CN111322162A

CN111322162A - System and method for predictive management of engine cooling system

Info

Publication number: CN111322162A
Application number: CN201811534111.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李国强; R·萨哈
Original assignee: Cummins Inc
Current assignee: Cummins Inc
Priority date: 2018-12-14
Filing date: 2018-12-14
Publication date: 2020-06-23

Abstract

A system is disclosed. The system includes an engine cooling system configured to circulate a coolant. The system includes a control circuit coupled to an engine cooling system. The control circuit is configured to determine an elevation at a vehicle route location. The control circuit is configured to estimate a coolant temperature of the coolant based on the determined altitude. The control circuit is configured to determine a transmission setting for the vehicle in response to the coolant temperature being greater than a predefined threshold. The control circuit is configured to provide the determined transmission setting to an input/output device of a vehicle to operate the vehicle.

Description

System and method for predictive management of engine cooling system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to engine cooling systems and, more particularly, to predictively managing an engine cooling system using one or more operating parameters of a vehicle engine.

Background

Typically, an engine (e.g., an internal combustion engine), such as used in a vehicle, generates heat during use. Engine cooling systems are commonly used to remove heat generated by the engine and other components of the vehicle. An engine cooling system coupled in fluid and/or air communication with the engine may circulate coolant into and out of the engine to absorb heat. In this way, heat may be removed from the engine (e.g., by circulating coolant away) to prevent overheating of the engine, for example.

As the vehicle travels through different heights, the capacity of the engine cooling system may vary accordingly. For example, when the vehicle moves from a lower elevation to a higher elevation, the capacity of the engine cooling system of the vehicle may be partially adversely affected due to the reduced air density. This reduced air density may cause the circulating coolant to become less efficient at exchanging heat. Thus, when the vehicle is at a relatively high altitude, the engine is more likely to become overheated. Therefore, there is a need to manage an engine cooling system of a vehicle that can respond according to the height at which the vehicle travels.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiments described herein relate generally to systems and methods for managing operation of an engine cooling system included in a vehicle.

In one embodiment, a method for managing operation of an engine cooling system is disclosed. The method includes determining a height at a location on a vehicle route. The method includes determining a coolant temperature of a coolant in an engine cooling system of the vehicle based on the determined location of the altitude. The method includes determining a transmission setting of the vehicle in response to the coolant temperature being greater than a predefined threshold. The method includes providing the determined transmission setting to an input/output device of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.

In another embodiment, a system is disclosed. The system includes an engine cooling system configured to circulate a coolant. The system includes a control circuit coupled to the engine cooling system. The control circuit is configured to determine an elevation at a vehicle route location. The control circuit is configured to estimate a coolant temperature of the coolant based on the determined altitude. The control circuit is configured to determine a transmission setting of the vehicle in response to the coolant temperature being greater than a predefined threshold. The control circuit is configured to provide the determined transmission setting to an input/output device of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.

In yet another embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a control circuit coupled to an engine cooling system. The control circuit is configured to determine a height at a location that the vehicle will encounter. The control circuit is configured to estimate a first predicted engine speed of the engine that is different from a current engine speed of the engine in response to determining that the estimated first temperature of the coolant based on the first predicted engine speed is less than or equal to a predefined threshold. The control circuit is configured to provide a transmission setting to operate the engine when the vehicle reaches a determined altitude, the transmission setting associated with a first engine speed.

It should be understood that all combinations of the foregoing concepts and additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided that these concepts do not contradict each other) are considered a part of the subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, all combinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of this disclosure are considered to be part of the subject matter disclosed herein.

Drawings

The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle including an engine cooling system and a controller according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an engine cooling system of the vehicle of FIG. 1, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the vehicle of FIG. 1 according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of operating a control circuit of the vehicle of FIG. 1 according to an example embodiment.

Throughout the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like numerals generally identify like parts, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and made part of this disclosure.

Detailed Description

The following is a more detailed description of various concepts related to methods, apparatus, and systems for predictively managing an engine cooling system for a vehicle and related embodiments. The various concepts introduced above and discussed in greater detail below may be implemented in a variety of ways, as the described concepts are not limited to any particular implementation. Specific implementation and application examples are provided primarily for illustrative purposes.

Referring generally to the drawings, various embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems, devices, and methods for predictively managing an engine cooling system of a vehicle by adjusting one or more operating parameters of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle includes a control circuit. Based on a given or determined altitude at which the vehicle will encounter or reach along the route, the control circuitry may predict one or more operating parameters (e.g., engine speed, torque value, and/or (transmission) gear) to operate the vehicle (e.g., engine) to ensure that the temperature of the engine cooling system (e.g., coolant temperature) does not exceed a predefined threshold. In this way, an operator (e.g., a driver or an automated operation) and/or a controller of the vehicle may predictably use one or more operating parameters of the vehicle before the vehicle encounters or reaches a determined height (e.g., a higher height), which may predictively prevent the engine cooling system from overheating.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a vehicle 100 according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 includes a powertrain 102, one or more vehicle subsystems 120, one or more operator input/output (I/O) devices 130, one or more sensors 140 coupled to one or more components of the vehicle 100, an engine cooling system 150, and a control circuit 170. It will be appreciated that although fig. 1 illustrates the vehicle as including a particular powertrain 102, the vehicle 100 may include any other powertrain (e.g., an electric-only drive powertrain or any other suitable powertrain). The vehicle 100 may be an on-highway or off-highway vehicle, including, but not limited to, a long-haul truck, a mid-range truck (e.g., pick-up truck), an automobile (e.g., a sedan, a hatchback, a coupe, etc.), a bus, a truck, a garbage truck, a delivery truck, and other types of vehicles. Accordingly, the present disclosure is applicable to a wide variety of embodiments.

The components of the vehicle 100 may communicate with each other or with external components using any type and any number of wired or wireless connections. For example, the wired connection may include a serial cable, a fiber optic cable, a CAT5 cable, or any other form of wired connection. The wireless connection may include the Internet, Wi-Fi, cellular, radio, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and the like. In one embodiment, a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus provides for the exchange of signals, information, and/or data. The CAN bus includes various wired and wireless connections. In some embodiments, because control circuit 170 may communicate, interface, or otherwise interact with the systems and components of vehicle 100 of fig. 1, control circuit 170 may be designed or implemented to receive data related to one or more components of vehicle 100 or to receive data related to the entire vehicle 100.

For example, the data may include operational data related to operating parameters of the power system 102 and/or other components (e.g., battery system, motors, generators, regenerative braking system, engine, etc.) acquired by one or more sensors (e.g., one or more sensors 140). In one example, the data may include input from the operator I/O device 130. In yet another example, the data may include environmental information to the vehicle 100 (e.g., road grade), which the control circuit 170 may obtain from various sources (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS) and on-board maps). According to some embodiments, in response to receiving, retrieving, or obtaining such data, control circuitry 170 may determine how to control power system 102 and/or other components of vehicle 100, which will be discussed in further detail below.

Still referring to fig. 1, the powertrain 102 includes an engine 103, a transmission 104, a drive shaft 105, a differential 106, a final drive 107, an Electromagnetic (EM) device 108 (e.g., generator, motor-generator, etc.), an inverter 109, and an energy storage device 110. The engine 103 may be configured as any engine type, including a spark-ignition internal combustion engine, a compression-ignition internal combustion engine, and/or a fuel cell, among other alternatives. The engine 103 may be powered by any type of fuel (e.g., diesel, ethanol, gasoline, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, etc.). The engine 103 may include an idle-start-stop mode in which the engine 103 is turned off after a period of time in which the engine 103 has been in an idle state for more than a predetermined idle time threshold to conserve energy and reduce exhaust emissions. The engine 103 is restarted in response to a user action indicating that the user requests energy production from the engine 103 (e.g., actuating an accelerator, etc.).

Similarly, the transmission 104 may be configured as any type of transmission, such as a continuously variable transmission, a manual transmission, an automatic-manual transmission, a dual clutch transmission, and the like. Thus, when the transmission changes from a gear-drive to a continuous configuration (e.g., a continuously variable transmission), the transmission 104 may include various transmission settings (e.g., gears, transmissions for gear-drive) that affect different output speeds based on the input speed received therefrom (e.g., from the second electromagnetic device 108, etc.). Similar to the engine 103 and transmission 104, the drive shaft 105, differential 106, and/or final drive 107 may be configured in any configuration depending on the application (e.g., the final drive 107 is configured as a wheel in an automotive application, a propeller in a marine application, etc.). Further, drive shaft 105 may be configured as any type of drive shaft, including but not limited to application-based one-piece, two-piece, and spool slide-in drive shafts.

As shown in fig. 1, the engine 103 and the electromagnetic apparatus 108 may be mechanically coupled together (e.g., via a shaft, a gearbox, etc.). In some embodiments, electromagnetic device 108 may be a single device having both power generation and electrical capabilities. In some embodiments, the electromagnetic device 108 may have only power generation capabilities. In other embodiments, electromagnetic device 108 may have only electrical capability. According to an example embodiment, engine 103 may be designed, configured, or implemented to drive electromagnetic device 108 to generate electrical energy. As shown in fig. 1, electromagnetic device 108 may be electrically coupled to an energy storage device 110 via an inverter 109, such that electromagnetic device 108 may provide energy generated thereby to energy storage device 110 for storage. In some embodiments, electromagnetic device 108 may be designed, configured, or implemented to receive stored electrical energy from energy storage device 110 to facilitate its operation. For example, electromagnetic device 108 may receive stored electrical energy from energy storage device 110 to facilitate starting engine 103. As shown in fig. 1, the electromagnetic apparatus 108 may be mechanically coupled to the transmission 104 (e.g., via a shaft, a gearbox, etc.). For example, vehicle 100 may include a hybrid vehicle that may be driven using power from engine 103, energy storage device 110 via electromagnetic device 108, or a combination thereof.

The electromagnetic device 108 may be electrically coupled to the energy storage device 110 such that the electromagnetic device 108 may receive energy stored by the energy storage device 110 and/or generated by the electromagnetic device 108 to facilitate operation thereof. For example, the electromagnetic device 108 may receive stored electrical energy from the energy storage device 110 to facilitate providing a mechanical output to the transmission 104. In some embodiments, electromagnetic device 108 is configured to generate electrical energy for storage in energy storage device 110. For example, the electromagnetic device 108 may be configured to perform energy regeneration with a negative torque supply (e.g., when the torque demand therefrom is zero, during engine braking, while the vehicle 100 is coasting down a hill, etc.).

According to example embodiments, the energy storage device 110 may include one or more batteries (e.g., high voltage batteries, lead acid batteries, lithium ion batteries, etc.), one or more capacitors (e.g., ultracapacitors, etc.), and/or any other energy storage device or combination thereof. As shown in fig. 1, energy storage device 110 may be electrically coupled to electromagnetic device 108. In some embodiments, energy storage device 110 and electromagnetic device 108 may be electrically coupled to one or more vehicle subsystems 120 (e.g., regenerative braking systems, electric vehicle accessories, etc.).

According to the example embodiment shown in fig. 1, energy storage device 110 may be designed, configured, or implemented to store electrical energy (i) received from a charging station (e.g., a vehicle charging station, etc.), (ii) generated by electromagnetic device 108, and/or (iii) generated by a regenerative braking system. The energy storage device 110 may be designed, configured, or implemented to provide stored electrical energy to (i) one or more vehicle subsystems 120 to operate various electrical-based components of the vehicle 100 (e.g., when the engine 103 is running, when the engine 103 is off, etc.), (ii) the electromagnetic device 108 of the engine 103 is started (e.g., the engine 103 is turned off in response to a restart command following a stop-start feature when the engine 103 is pressed by an operator, etc.), and/or (iii) the electromagnetic device 108 that facilitates providing a mechanical output to the transmission 104 (e.g., to propel the vehicle 100, etc.).

Still referring to fig. 1, the vehicle subsystems 120 may include other components, including mechanically or electrically driven vehicle components (e.g., HVAC systems, lights, pumps, fans, etc.). The vehicle subsystems 120 may also include components for reducing exhaust emissions, such as a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalyst, a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), a Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) doser (doser) that supplies diesel exhaust fluid, a plurality of sensors for monitoring the aftertreatment system (e.g., nitrogen oxide (NOx) sensors, temperature sensors, etc.), and/or other components.

In some embodiments, the engine 103 may receive a chemical energy input (e.g., a fuel such as gasoline, diesel, etc.) and combust the fuel to generate mechanical energy in the form of a rotating crankshaft. The transmission 104 may receive a rotating crankshaft and manipulate the speed of the crankshaft (e.g., engine Revolutions Per Minute (RPM), etc.) to affect a desired driveshaft speed. In some embodiments, the speed of the crankshaft may be referred to herein as the "engine speed" of the engine 103. The rotating drive shaft 105 may be received by a differential 106, and the differential 106 may provide rotational energy of the drive shaft 105 to a final drive 107 (e.g., wheels of the vehicle 100). As such, according to some embodiments, the final drive 107 may propel or move the vehicle 100 at a speed, which may be referred to herein as the "ground speed" of the vehicle.

In embodiments of the hybrid or electric powertrain 102, the engine 103 may provide mechanical energy to the electromagnetic device 108 such that the electromagnetic device 108 may generate electrical power. Electromagnetic device 108 may provide the generated power to energy storage device 110 and/or a second electromagnetic device.

The operator I/O devices 130 may allow an operator of the vehicle 100 (e.g., a driver, passengers, manufacturer, service provider, or maintenance personnel, and automation) to communicatively couple with the vehicle 100 and/or the control circuit 170. For example, the operator I/O devices 130 may include, but are not limited to, an interactive display, a touch screen device, one or more buttons and switches, a voice command receiver, and the like. The operator I/O devices 130 may include a brake pedal or lever, an accelerator pedal, and/or an accelerator throttle. In some embodiments, the control circuit 170 may notify the operator of the vehicle 100 of one or more predicted operating parameters of the vehicle 100 via the operator I/O device 130.

The one or more sensors 140 may include sensors positioned and configured to monitor operating characteristics of various components of the vehicle 100. For example, one or more sensors 140 may include a device capable of monitoring, acquiring, or otherwise receiving indicative data of a state of charge (SOC), a state of health (SOH), and/or a power capacity of energy storage device 110, and/or a current (e.g., current, voltage, power, etc.) into and/or out of energy storage device 110. The one or more sensors 140 may include position sensors that may monitor the position of an accelerator (e.g., accelerator pedal, accelerator throttle, etc.) and/or a brake (e.g., brake pedal, brake lever, etc.) of the vehicle 100. The one or more sensors 140 may include a speed sensor that may monitor the ground speed of the vehicle 100. The one or more sensors 140 may include an obstacle sensor capable of detecting whether the vehicle 100 (e.g., wheels thereof, etc.) encounters an obstacle (e.g., a curb, rock, boulder, speed bump, pothole, etc.). The one or more sensors 140 may include a GPS sensor configured to sense a location of the vehicle 100, which may indicate a road grade and/or an elevation of the location. The one or more sensors 140 may include operating parameter sensors that may monitor an engine speed/torque (toque) of the engine 103, and/or a gear of the transmission 104.

When the engine 103 is in use, one or more components (e.g., cylinders) of the engine 103 may each generate an amount of heat that may accumulate in a housing (e.g., engine block) of the engine 103. In some embodiments, an engine cooling system 150, which may be coupled in fluid and/or air communication with the engine 103, may dynamically remove heat generated by the engine 103 to prevent overheating of the engine 103, which may result in malfunctions such as undesirable power reductions and engine stalls.

Referring to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an engine cooling system 150 is depicted. For illustrative purposes, an engine 103 coupled to an engine cooling system 150 is also shown in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, the engine cooling system 150 may include a (cooling) pump 200, a radiator 202, a fan 204, a thermostat 206, and a plurality of

conduits

208, 209, 210, and 211. It should be understood that the embodiment of the engine cooling system 150 of FIG. 2 is provided for illustrative purposes. Accordingly, the engine cooling system 150 may include any of a variety of other components known in the art, while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, pump 200 may circulate coolant through various conduit arrangements (e.g., conduit 208 and 211) fluidly connected to engine cooling system 150 and components of engine 103. For example, pump 200 may initially pump coolant, which is at a lower temperature (sometimes referred to as "low temperature coolant"), around components (e.g., one or more cylinders) of engine 103 via conduit 208 to absorb heat from engine 103 while engine 103 is in use. The pump 200 may cause coolant to be present in the engine 103 via a thermostat 206 and a conduit 209. In response to the presence of the engine 103, the coolant may carry heat generated by the engine 103 to assume a higher temperature (sometimes referred to as "hot coolant"). The thermostat 206 may periodically or continuously measure or monitor the temperature of such coolant being exhausted from the engine 103 through the thermostat 206. In response to the monitored temperature becoming greater than a predetermined temperature threshold of the thermostat (hereinafter referred to as the "predetermined thermostat threshold"), the thermostat 206 may allow coolant (e.g., hot coolant) to flow through the conduit 210 to the radiator 202, for example, by disabling the bypass valve to the radiator 202. The heat sink 202 may circulate the hot coolant through tubes to exchange heat from the coolant to ambient air via a fan 204. In some embodiments, the fan 204 may be actuated by the engine 103 and operated in accordance with the engine 103. The temperature of the hot coolant may be reduced, e.g., converted to a cryogenic coolant, by radiator 202 and fan 204, and such cryogenic coolant may be circulated back to pump 200 via conduit 211 and pumped to engine 103 again via conduit 208.

Referring again to fig. 1, at least a subset of the one or more sensors 140 may each measure, determine, estimate, detect, or otherwise receive data indicative of the temperature of the coolant in any location of the engine cooling system 150. Such as, for example, at one or more points where coolant flows from engine 103 to radiator 202, at one or more points where coolant flows from radiator 202 to pump 200, at one or more points where coolant exits from pump 200 back to engine 103, at one or more points where coolant flows from engine 103 to pump 200, and/or at one or more points of a housing of engine cooling system 150. In the following discussion, such temperatures may be collectively referred to as coolant temperatures. In some embodiments, one or more sensors 140 may provide coolant temperatures associated with various operating parameters of the vehicle 100 to the control circuit 170 to generate a look-up table, which will be discussed in further detail below. In some embodiments, one or more sensors 140 may provide the coolant temperature based on one or more algorithms. For example, one or more sensors 140 may simulate, calculate, or otherwise estimate coolant temperature using various operating parameters as inputs to one or more algorithms.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of one embodiment of a control circuit 170 for predictively managing an engine cooling system of a vehicle (e.g., 150) is depicted. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, control circuitry 170 (also referred to herein as controller 170) may include one or more processors 302, route management engine 304, parameter prediction engine 306, operation management engine 308, and communication interface 310.

In one or more embodiments, each of the above-described engines is implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software. Each component of the control circuit 170 may be implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware or software. For example, each engine may include any application, program, library, script, task, service, process, or executable instructions of any type and form that execute on the hardware of the device (e.g., control circuitry 170). In one or more embodiments, the hardware includes circuitry, such as one or more processors. In the example shown, each engine is implemented as a non-transitory machine-readable medium that is executable by one or more processors 302 to implement the processes described herein. However, in other alternative embodiments, one or more of the engines may have the structure described herein (e.g., one or more processors and memory) such that the one or more engines may be their own controllers.

The one or more processors 302 may execute the route management engine 304 to receive various information regarding the route established for the vehicle 100. The one or more processors 302 may execute the parameter-predictive engine 306 to highly predictively estimate a temperature of the coolant based on the along-route determination and further determine to operate the vehicle in the gear in response to determining that the estimated coolant temperature is less than a predefined algorithmic threshold. The one or more processors may execute the operations management engine 308 to advise an operator of the vehicle, which may include automatically driving the vehicle, to operate the vehicle using the determined gear. Route management engine 304, parameter prediction engine 306, and operation management engine 308 are each discussed in further detail below.

Communication interface 310 may include a wireless interface (e.g., jack, antenna, transmitter, receiver, transceiver, wired terminal, etc.) for data communication with various systems, devices, or networks. For example, the communication interface 310 may include an ethernet card and ports for sending and receiving data via an ethernet-based communication network, and/or a Wi-Fi transceiver for communicating with other vehicles (e.g., for vehicle-to-vehicle communication), a server (e.g., for vehicle-to-server communication), infrastructure (e.g., for vehicle-to-infrastructure), the internet, news sources, or any other external static or dynamic input source, and the controller 170 via injection into a communication network (e.g., the cloud). Communication interface 310 may be designed or implemented to communicate via a local or wide area network (e.g., the internet, etc.) and may use various communication protocols (e.g., IP, LON, bluetooth, ZigBee, radio, cellular phone, near field communication, etc.). The communication interface 310 may also include a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus for communicating with internal vehicle components (e.g., the vehicle subsystems 120, the powertrain 102, the operator I/O devices 130, the sensors 140, and/or the engine cooling system 150), for example, via wired or wireless connections.

Route management engine 304 is configured to receive, obtain, or manage various information regarding the route of vehicle 100. Route management engine 304 may receive information for the route (e.g., respective locations/positions of one or more intermediate or final destinations along the route, topographical information along the route, time information, etc.) via a Global Positioning System (GPS) using communication interface 310 and/or operator I/O device 130 (fig. 1). Such a GPS may be integrated or otherwise tied to the control circuit 170. In response to receipt of the information, route management engine 304 may establish or predict a route for vehicle 100 via GPS. In response to establishing the route, route management engine 304 may determine whether locations of one or more destinations along the route are available (e.g., whether the destinations are still present), and/or whether topographical information along the route is available (e.g., whether weather/climate information and/or road grade information along the route is available). In some embodiments, route management engine 304 may determine whether the information regarding the route is available via GPS.

In response to determining that at least a portion of the information about the route is available, the control circuit 170 may use the processor 302 to execute the parameter prediction engine 306 to predict one or more operating parameters of the vehicle 100, which will be discussed in further detail below. According to some embodiments, an operator (e.g., a driver and/or an automated operation) of the vehicle 100 along at least a portion of the route may use the predicted operating parameters to control the vehicle 100.

On the other hand, in response to determining that all or a particular portion of the information about the route is unavailable, the route management engine 304 may interface, communicate or otherwise interact with the operation management engine 308 to cause the vehicle 100 to switch to a normal operating mode. According to some embodiments, when operating in the normal operating mode, the operator of the vehicle 100 may control the vehicle 100 along the route independent of the predicted operating parameters.

Parameter prediction engine 306 may retrieve or store road grade information along the route from various information received by route management engine 304. In some embodiments, the road grade information may include respective heights of one or more final or intermediate destinations along the route that the vehicle will encounter. Such a height may be referred to herein as a "determined height". In response to retrieving, or otherwise determining a determined altitude, the parametric predictive engine 306 may estimate the load of the engine 103 based on the engine speed and/or torque of the engine 103. Parameter prediction engine 306 may estimate the load of engine 103 when the vehicle encounters a determined altitude based on the current road grade and/or current operating parameters of engine 103 or vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the parameter prediction engine 306 may retrieve current operating parameters of the engine 103 from one or more sensors 140 via the communication interface 310.

For example, when the vehicle 100 is moving uphill (e.g., moving from a lower elevation to a higher elevation), the parameter predictive engine 306 may predict the current engine speed increase and the current torque to decrease accordingly. In another example, when the vehicle 100 is moving downward (e.g., from a higher elevation to a lower elevation), the parameter predictive engine 306 may predict a current engine speed decrease and a current torque increase, respectively. It should be noted that the load on the engine 103 when the vehicle 100 encounters a determined altitude may be affected by various other factors such as, for example, vehicle speed targets, traffic conditions, weather patterns, etc. Accordingly, the parameter predictive engine 306 may predict the current engine speed and current torque in a manner substantially similar or different from the examples described above, while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

In response to estimating the load on the engine 103 (as a function of engine speed and/or torque), the parametric predictive engine 306 may use the estimated engine speed and/or torque to determine a predicted coolant temperature according to a look-up table. In some embodiments, the lookup table may include a mapping (mapping) between a plurality of coolant temperatures, a plurality of engine speeds, and a plurality of torques. Specifically, the lookup table may include a plurality of columns, a coolant temperature column, an engine speed column, and a torque column, each column may have a plurality of values. Each value of the coolant temperature column may be mapped to a corresponding value of the engine speed column and the torque column. In some embodiments, the look-up table may include one or more algorithms that take engine speed and torque as inputs to generate corresponding coolant temperatures. In this way, the coolant temperature may be determined when appropriate inputs (e.g., engine speed and torque) are prescribed for one or more algorithms.

Parameter prediction the engine 306 may use one or more programs to build, generate, or manage such a lookup table to model the relationship between the parameters of coolant temperature, engine speed, and torque. Parameter prediction engine 306 may store the look-up table in a local memory device of control circuitry 170 and/or a remote database maintained by one or more servers (e.g., a cloud database). Where the look-up table is stored in a database, the parameter predictive engine 306 may access the database via the communication interface 310 to determine the predicted coolant temperature. By knowing the estimated engine speed and/or torque, the parametric predictive engine 306 may map the estimated engine speed and/or torque to a predicted coolant temperature using a look-up table.

In response to determining the coolant temperature, the parameter prediction engine 306 may compare the predicted coolant temperature to predefined algorithm thresholds to determine whether to maintain current operating parameters of the vehicle 100, or to estimate new operating parameters of the vehicle 100, each of which will be discussed below. In some embodiments, the predefined algorithm threshold may be associated with a predefined thermostat threshold, as discussed with respect to fig. 2. For example, the predefined algorithm threshold may be substantially similar to the predefined thermostat threshold or a function of the predefined thermostat threshold.

If the predicted coolant temperature is equal to or less than the predefined algorithmic threshold, the parameter prediction engine 306 may be communicatively coupled with the operation management engine 308 to maintain the vehicle 100 with current operating parameters.

For example, when the vehicle 100 encounters a determined altitude along the route, the parameter predictive engine 306 may notify the operation management engine 308 that the coolant temperature that the engine cooling system 150 will exhibit may not be greater than a predefined algorithm threshold. Accordingly, the operations management engine 308 may notify the operator of the vehicle via the communication interface 310 and/or the operator I/O device 130 to maintain current operating parameters when the vehicle 100 encounters the determined altitude.

If the predicted coolant temperature is greater than the predetermined algorithm threshold, the parametric predictive engine 306 may iteratively increase or decrease the estimated engine speed and/or torque until the corresponding predicted coolant temperature from the increased engine speed and/or decreased torque map becomes less than or equal to the predefined algorithm threshold. In response to determining that the estimated engine speed and/or torque may satisfy the above criteria, the parametric predictive engine 306 may determine a gear of the transmission 104 to operate the engine 103 corresponding to the estimated engine speed and/or torque. In some embodiments, the parametric predictive engine 306 may determine the gear using a pre-calibrated look-up table containing relationships between a plurality of gears of the transmission 104 and a plurality of engine speeds and/or torques of the engine 103.

For example, if the first predicted coolant temperature determined based on the first estimated engine speed and/or torque is greater than the predetermined algorithm threshold, in a first iteration, the parametric predictive engine 306 may increase the first estimated engine speed or decrease the first estimated torque by a corresponding predetermined amount to produce a second estimated engine speed and/or torque. During the first iteration, the parameter prediction engine 306 may map the second estimated engine speed and/or torque to a second predicted coolant temperature using a lookup table and determine whether the second predicted coolant temperature is less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold. If less than or equal to the predetermined algorithm threshold, parameter prediction engine 306 may perform one or more similar iterations until the predicted coolant temperature becomes no greater than the predefined algorithm threshold. If so, the parametric predictive engine 306 may use the second estimated engine speed and/or torque to determine a corresponding gear of the transmission 104 to operate the engine 103. In some embodiments, the relationship between the gear of the transmission 104 and the engine speed and/or torque of the engine 103 may be pre-calibrated to another look-up table.

The operation management engine 308 may interface, communicate, or otherwise interact with an operator of the vehicle 100 to operate the vehicle at certain operating parameters based on information provided by the route management engine 304 and/or the parameter prediction engine 306. As described above, in response to route management engine 304 determining that at least a portion of the information about the route is available, operation management engine 308 may interface, communicate, or otherwise interact with route management engine 304 to cause vehicle 100 to switch to a predictive mode of operation. In response to route management engine 304 determining that all or a particular portion of the information about the route is not available, operation management engine 308 may interface, communicate, or otherwise interact with route management engine 304 to cause vehicle 100 to switch to a normal operating mode.

In some embodiments, the operation management engine 308 may recommend to an operator of the vehicle 100 to switch the vehicle to one of a predictive mode of operation or a normal mode of operation using the operator I/O device 130. The operator of the vehicle 100 may manage the recommendation of the engine 308 in response to the operation. In response to receiving the response, the operation management engine 308 may record the response as the current operating mode of the vehicle 100, which may indicate the mode selected by the operator.

Referring to FIG. 4, a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method 400 for predictively managing an engine cooling system is depicted. The functions of method 400 may be implemented using, or performed by, the components described in detail herein in connection with fig. 1-3.

Briefly, at 402, a route management engine may establish a route. At 404, the route management engine may determine whether one or more locations along the route are available. If not, method 400 may proceed to 410, where the operation management engine may cause the vehicle to switch to or remain in a normal operating mode. If so, method 400 may proceed to 406, where the route management engine may further determine whether topographical information along the route is available. If not, method 400 may proceed to 410, where the operation management engine may cause the vehicle to switch to or remain in a normal operating mode. If so, the method 400 may proceed to 408, where the operation management engine may determine whether to switch the vehicle to operate in the predictive mode of operation. If not, method 400 may proceed to 410, where operating the management engine may maintain the vehicle in a normal operating mode. If so, method 400 may proceed to 412, where the parameter prediction engine may determine the altitude along the route. At 414, the parametric predictive engine may estimate a load of the vehicle engine based on the engine speed and/or torque. At 416, the parametric predictive engine may determine whether the coolant temperature corresponding to the estimated engine speed and/or torque is less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold. If so, method 400 proceeds to 424, where the operation management engine may maintain the vehicle at the current operating parameters. If not, method 400 may proceed to 418. At 418, the parametric predictive engine may iteratively adjust the estimated engine speed and/or torque until the coolant temperature becomes less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold. At 420, the parametric predictive engine may determine a transmission setting (e.g., gear) corresponding to the estimated engine speed and/or torque, resulting in a coolant temperature less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold. At 422, the operation management engine may provide transmission settings to an operator of the vehicle.

At 402, a route management engine (e.g., 304) of a control circuit (e.g., 170) may establish a route for a vehicle (e.g., 100). In some embodiments, the route management engine may receive information of the route (e.g., respective locations/positions of one or more intermediate or final destinations along the route, topographical information along the route, time information, etc.) using the communication interface 310 and/or the operator I/O device 130. In response to receiving the route information, the route management engine may establish the route via a Global Positioning System (GPS) or the like.

At 404 and 406, the route management engine may determine whether information for various portions of the route is available. For example, at 404, the route management engine may determine whether a location/position of one or more intermediate or final destinations along the route is available; at 406, the route management engine may determine whether topographical information for the route is available. If portions of the information for both routes are available, the route management engine may communicate with the operation management engine (e.g., 308) to determine whether to switch the vehicle to the predictive mode of operation, as described above at 408. On the other hand, if a portion of one of the route information is not available, the route management engine may communicate with the operation management engine to cause the vehicle to switch to or remain in a normal operating mode, as described above at 410. In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, while the route management engine may perform operation 404 prior to operation 406, the route management engine may perform operation 404 after operation 406 or concurrently with operation 406 while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

If, at 408, the operation management engine determines not to switch the vehicle to the predictive mode of operation, the operation management engine may maintain the vehicle in a normal mode of operation. If, at 408, the operation management engine determines to switch the vehicle to the predictive mode of operation, the operation management engine may communicate with the parameter predictive engine (e.g., 306) to retrieve the determined altitude along the route at 412. In some embodiments, based on the determinations at 404 and 406, the operation management engine may communicate with an operator of the vehicle using an operator I/O device (e.g., 130) to instruct the operator which operating mode to select.

At 412, the parameter prediction engine may retrieve the determined altitude along the route. In some embodiments, the height so determined may correspond to one or more heights of intermediate or final destinations along the route that the vehicle will next encounter. For example, the parameter prediction engine may retrieve information of the determined altitude from topographic information of the route information by communicating with the route management engine. In another example, the parametric predictive engine may use a plurality of altitudes that the vehicle has encountered and use an algorithm (e.g., a machine learning algorithm, an artificial intelligence algorithm, etc.) to estimate the determined altitude.

At 414, the parametric predictive engine may estimate a load of the vehicle engine as a function of engine speed and/or torque based on the determined altitude. When the vehicle encounters a determined altitude, the reference predicted engine may estimate the load of the engine based on a current road grade (e.g., a current altitude) and/or current operating parameters of the engine or the entire vehicle (e.g., a current engine speed, a current torque, etc.). In some embodiments, the parameter prediction engine may retrieve current operating parameters of the engine from one or more sensors (e.g., 140) of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the parametric predictive engine may consider the engine speed and torque at 414 to be respective initial guesses for one or more iterative adjustments to the engine speed and torque.

At 416, the parametric predictive engine may determine whether the coolant temperature corresponding to the estimated engine speed and/or torque is less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold. The parametric predictive engine may map the estimated engine speed and/or torque to a coolant temperature using a pre-calibrated look-up table. In some embodiments, the predefined algorithm threshold may be associated with a predefined thermostat threshold, as discussed with respect to fig. 2. For example, the predefined algorithm threshold may be substantially similar to the predefined thermostat threshold or a function of the predefined thermostat threshold.

If at 416, the parametric predictive engine determines that the coolant temperature is less than or equal to the predefined algorithmic threshold, the parametric predictive engine may communicate with the operation management engine 308 to cause the operation management engine 308 to notify the operator of the vehicle to maintain current operating parameters, e.g., maintain a current engine speed, torque, and/or gear.

On the other hand, if, at 416, the parametric predictive engine determines that the coolant temperature is greater than the predefined algorithm threshold, the parametric predictive engine may perform at least one iteration to adjust the initial guess of engine speed and torque (418). For example, at 418, if the determined altitude is greater than the current altitude, the parametric predictive engine may iteratively increase engine speed and decrease torque, and during each iteration map the adjusted engine speed and torque to a coolant temperature using a lookup table. In response to obtaining the coolant temperature during each iteration, the parametric predictive engine may check whether the coolant temperature becomes less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold. If so, the parameter predictive engine may stop iterating and use the adjusted engine speed and/or torque to determine a transmission setting (420). If not, the parametric predictive engine may continue to iterate.

In response to determining the transmission setting at 422, the parametric predictive engine may communicate with the operations management engine 308 to inform the operations management engine 308 of the transmission setting. In response, the operations management engine 308 may use the operator I/O device (e.g., 130) to notify the operator of the vehicle of such transmission settings. By notifying the operator of the transmission settings before the vehicle encounters a determined altitude, the operator can change the operating parameters of the vehicle in advance. Thus, for example, when the vehicle moves from a lower elevation to a higher elevation, the vehicle may prevent the coolant temperature of the engine cooling system from becoming unable to provide the desired functionality because the coolant temperature becomes too hot (e.g., too hot or too warm). Thus, various problems with the engine (e.g., engine stall) may be "predictively" prevented while traveling at multiple elevations.

In some other embodiments, while the vehicle is being operated, for example, in a normal operating mode (410), the control circuitry 170 (e.g., the parameter predictive engine 306) may dynamically communicate with the sensor 140 to determine whether the current coolant temperature measurable or determinable by the sensor 140 is less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold (416).

If so, the control circuit 170 (e.g., the operation management engine 308) may notify the operator of the vehicle to maintain the current operating parameters, e.g., maintain the current engine speed, torque, and/or gear (424).

If not, the control circuit 170 (e.g., a parametric predictive crank) may iteratively adjust (e.g., calculate) the engine speed and torque and map the adjusted engine speed and torque to the coolant temperature using a look-up table during each iteration. In response to obtaining the coolant temperature during each iteration, the parametric predictive engine may check whether the coolant temperature becomes less than or equal to a predefined algorithm threshold. If so, the parameter predictive engine may stop iterating and use the adjusted engine speed and/or torque to determine a transmission setting (420). If not, the parametric predictive engine may continue to iterate. In response to determining the transmission setting (422), the parametric predictive engine may communicate with the operations management engine 308 to inform the operations management engine 308 of the transmission setting. In response, the operations management engine 308 may use the operator I/O device (e.g., 130) to notify the operator of the vehicle of such transmission settings.

In some embodiments, at 420, when the transmission 104 is configured as a continuously variable transmission, the control circuit 170 may automatically adjust the transmission settings based on the adjusted engine speed and/or torque. In additional or alternative embodiments, the control circuit 170 may automatically or nearly automatically adjust the transmission settings in response to detecting that the amount of adjustment of the engine speed and/or torque is less than a predefined threshold. For example, if the control circuit 170 determines that the amount of adjustment of the engine speed (which may be positive or negative) compared to the current engine speed is less than 100 (a predefined threshold), the control circuit 170 may automatically adjust the transmission setting. However, if the control circuit 170 determines that the adjustment amount is equal to or greater than the predefined threshold, the control circuit 170 may provide the transmission setting to a user of the vehicle, e.g., 422.

The claims hereof are not to be construed in accordance with the provisions of 35u.s.c § 112(f), unless the element is explicitly recited using the phrase "means for … …".

For the purposes of this disclosure, the term "coupled" means that two members are directly or indirectly joined or connected to each other. Such connections may be fixed or movable in nature. For example, a propeller shaft of an engine (e.g., 103) being "coupled" to a transmission (e.g., 104) represents a movable coupling. Such joining may be achieved with two members or with two members and any additional intermediate members. For example, circuit a may be communicatively "coupled" to circuit B to mean that circuit a communicates directly with circuit B (i.e., without an intermediary) or indirectly with circuit B (e.g., through one or more intermediaries).

While various engines having particular functions (e.g., route management engine 304, parameter prediction engine 306, operation management engine 308) are illustrated in fig. 3, it should be appreciated that vehicle 100 may include any number of engines for performing the functions described herein. For example, the activities and functions of the motors of the control circuit 170 may be provided in multiple controllers or as a single controller. An additional motor having additional functionality for use with fig. 3 is included in the control circuit. In addition, the control circuit 170 may also control other activities beyond the scope of this disclosure.

As described above and in one configuration, an "engine" (e.g., route management engine 304, parameter prediction engine 306, operation management engine 308) may be executed by various types of processors (e.g., processor 302 of fig. 3) operating in a machine-readable medium. For example, an identified executable code engine may comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for example, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. However, the executables of an identified engine need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the engine and achieve the stated purpose for the engine. Indeed, the engine of computer readable program code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within the engine, and may be embodied in any suitable form and systematized within any suitable type of data structure. The data of the operations may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.

Although the term "processor" is briefly defined above, the terms "processor" and "processing circuitry" are meant to be interpreted broadly. In this regard and as described above, a "processor" may be implemented as one or more general purpose processor Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), or other suitable electronic data processing components configured to execute instructions provided by a memory. The one or more processors may take the form of single-core processors, multi-core processors (e.g., dual-core processors, tri-core processors, quad-core processors, etc.), microprocessors, and the like. In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be external to the apparatus, e.g., the one or more processors may be remote processors (e.g., cloud-based processors). Alternatively or additionally, the one or more processors may be internal and/or local to the apparatus. In this regard, a given circuit or component thereof may be disposed locally (e.g., as part of a local server, local computing system, etc.) or remotely (e.g., as part of a remote server (e.g., a cloud-based server)). To this end, a "circuit" as described herein may include components distributed over one or more locations.

Although the figures herein may show a particular order and composition of method steps, the order of the steps may differ from that which is described. For example, two or more steps may be performed simultaneously or partially simultaneously. Further, some method steps performed as discrete steps may be combined, steps performed as combined steps may be separated into discrete steps, the order of some processes may be reversed or otherwise varied, and the nature or number of discrete processes may be altered or varied. The order or sequence of any elements or devices may be changed or substituted according to alternative embodiments. All such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims. These variations will depend on the machine-readable medium and hardware system chosen and on designer choice. All such variations are within the scope of the present disclosure.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from this disclosure. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as expressed in the appended claims.

Accordingly, the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining a height at a location on a vehicle route;

determining a coolant temperature of a coolant in an engine cooling system of the vehicle based on the determined altitude;

determining a transmission setting of the vehicle in response to the coolant temperature being greater than a predefined threshold; and

the determined transmission setting is provided to an input/output device of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the height at the location further comprises:

establishing a route of the vehicle; and

before the vehicle reaches the location, the height of the location is retrieved.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining transmission settings to operate the vehicle further comprises:

the method further includes causing the vehicle to maintain current operating parameters of the engine in response to the coolant temperature being equal to or less than a predefined threshold, wherein the current operating parameters include engine speed and torque.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a coolant temperature further comprises:

estimating a first engine speed of the engine at the location based on the altitude; and

the coolant temperature is determined using a look-up table that correlates a plurality of coolant temperatures to a plurality of engine speeds of the engine.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the transmission setting further comprises:

determining a second engine speed of the engine by iteratively increasing or decreasing the first engine speed until a coolant temperature associated with the second engine speed becomes equal to or less than a predefined threshold according to a look-up table; and

a transmission setting is determined based on the second engine speed.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined threshold is associated with a temperature threshold of a thermostat of the engine cooling system.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before the vehicle encounters an altitude at the location, the current transmission setting is switched to the determined transmission setting to operate the vehicle.

8. A system, comprising:

an engine cooling system configured to circulate a coolant; and

a control circuit coupled to an engine cooling system, the control circuit configured to:

determining an altitude at a vehicle route location;

estimating a coolant temperature of the coolant based on the determined height;

the determined transmission settings are provided to an input/output device of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

establishing a route of the vehicle; and

10. The system of claim 8, wherein an engine of the vehicle is maintained operating at current operating parameters in response to the control circuit determining that the coolant temperature is equal to or less than the predefined threshold, wherein the current operating parameters include engine speed and torque.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

the coolant temperature is determined using a look-up table that correlates a plurality of temperatures of the coolant to a plurality of engine speeds of the engine.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

a transmission setting is determined based on the second engine speed.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the predefined threshold is associated with a temperature threshold of a thermostat of the engine cooling system.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a control circuit coupled to the engine cooling system and configured to:

determining a height at a location that the vehicle will encounter;

estimating a first predicted engine speed of the engine different from a current engine speed of the engine in response to determining from the first predicted engine speed that the estimated first temperature of the coolant is less than or equal to the predefined threshold; and

when the vehicle reaches the determined altitude, a transmission setting is provided to operate the engine, the transmission setting being associated with a first engine speed.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

establishing a route of the vehicle; and

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

estimating a second predicted engine speed of the engine based on the determined altitude;

estimating a second temperature of the coolant based on the second predicted engine speed; and

the second predicted engine speed is adjusted in response to determining that the estimated second temperature of the coolant is greater than the predefined threshold.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determining a first engine speed of the engine by iteratively increasing or decreasing the second engine speed until a second temperature of the coolant becomes equal to or less than a predefined threshold; and

a transmission setting is determined based on the first engine speed.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

first and second temperatures of the coolant are determined from the first and second predicted engine speeds, respectively, using a look-up table.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the lookup table correlates a plurality of temperatures of the coolant to a plurality of predicted engine speeds of the engine.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the engine of the vehicle is switched from operating through the current transmission setting to operating through the provided transmission setting before the vehicle encounters the determined altitude.